JAFFREY — When Jaffrey resident Trisha Hill was browsing through the art that would be up for auction during Saturday’s Monadnock Art Auction, an oil painting by Monique Sakellarios especially caught her eye. While she liked the look of the piece, she wasn’t planning on bidding for it. That is, until she saw it up on the auction block.

Sakellarios’ painting was up first, and when the auctioneer opened up the bids, Hill’s hand was the first in the air.

“I wasn’t planning on buying it,” she said after the auction Saturday night, eyeing her $450 purchase. “But it came up first, and my hand shot up like it was meant to be. I didn’t have to fight for it, which made it my lucky night. I would have fought for it if I had to.”

Hill walked away with her dream painting with little fuss, but other items made the bidding go fast and furious. Between 200 and 250 people were gathered at the Shattuck Golf Course in Jaffrey on Saturday night, some dressed to the nines in tuxes and gowns to try their luck with their trusty auction paddles. Almost all of the 48 pieces in the live auction went home with excited buyers, with only two being passed over for bidding. In the silent auction, also concluded on Saturday, several of the 85 pieces were also passed over, according to the Jaffrey Chamber of Commerce’s Executive Assistant Becky Newton. The total funds raised from the event were still being tallied Monday, said Newton.

One couple discovered a new artist, with each of them separately latching onto the two works submitted by New Ipswich artist and wildlife illustrator Matt Patterson.

Trish Walker of Wilton and her husband walked away with three pieces of art following the auction. Fans of Peterborough artist Erick Ingraham, they were initially interested in his watercolor painting entitled “Dublin Lake. And while they walked away with their coveted Ingraham painting, they bought two more — including both pieces submitted by Patterson, one an acrylic painting of a snapping turtle, and the other a basswood carving of a duck.

Walker first became attached to Patterson’s painting of a snapping turtle he caught at a small New Ipswich pond when she saw it online, and hers was one of the paddles that flashed through the air to fight for it. Little did she know that her husband had also noticed Patterson’s work — but not his painting. He wanted to bid on Patterson’s woodwork, despite the fact that neither of the couple had ever seen his work before.

“I was just glad that people bid,” said Patterson after the auction. He said he was glad both pieces had found a home with people who would appreciate them. “It was a great night,” he said.

Benjamin and Stefanie Perez, of Peterborough have been long-time attendees at the auction, and netted three different pieces of art by three different artists, including a piece by Joan Barrows of Peterborough.

“Joan Barrows is an artist to recognize,” said Benjamin Perez, indicating to his newly purchased painting, featuring spring garlic. “To capture that with a brush is real talent.”

The two also bought an acrylic painting and a mixed metal and glass piece.

“I was happy to get an eclectic mix of art,” said Stefanie Perez. “We got three very different pieces.”

Barrows said this is the third year she has submitted to the Monadnock Art Auction. Her piece ultimately sold for $700, and she said she hadn’t ever expected that.

“It’s beyond my wildest dreams,” she said. “I’m very thrilled by it. I’m always surprised how other people value what I create.”

Barrows said that aside from participating every year in the Dublin Art Tour, the Monadnock Art Auction has been her main venue to let people purchase her work. It’s exciting to see her piece come up on the auction block and watch the bidding begin, she said.

The biggest buy of the night came for one of the paintings by internationally-known artist Jeanne Duval. Her still life oil painting, entitled ““Campodimele Still Life” went for $10,000 by the end of the bidding. Her other piece, “Tomatoes and Tissue Paper,” was another of the highest bid-for items, settling at $7,000.

Duval’s art is often the highlight of the auction. Her piece “The Alussionist’s Choice,” was the highest sale of last year as well, at $13,000.

Other paintings didn’t have such a high total, but generated just as much excitement on the bidding floor. A four-way bidding war resulted in Peterborough artist David Dodge’s oil painting of Monadnock, entitled “Monadnock, Early Snow,” to climb from a starting bid of $600 before finally coming to a standstill at $2,700.

The funds raised by the Monadnock Arts Auction are used to fund the Jaffrey Chamber of Commerce, and also used to fund to $1,000 arts scholarships provided by the chamber.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 235 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter at @AshleySaari.